The Minor Leagues, Generally

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Reds v. Phils, Game 1

Game Over:
4-0 Phils

Oh, Halladay threw a no-hitter also...

Top 9:
Over. No Hitter for Halladay. It was the most methodically easy performance I've ever seen. In the Philly post-no hitter scrum, it was almost like his teammates were afraid to touch him. It's great how each postseason, one pitcher emerges as just obviously unhittable. There was Lee last year, Beckett twice, Kenny Rogers, Mariano, off the top of my head, but I've never seen an excellent offensive team be so overmatched in a postseason game. The luster of time tends to cast a sentimental sheen on great pitching performances from decades past, but Halladay tonight will be talked about and watched for decades in the future.

Top 8:
4-0
That was an absolute breeze, and Halladay is three outs away from the first no-hitter in the postseason since Don Larson in 1966. This is wonderful to watch.

Top 7:
Phils, 4-0
Whoa. Halladay got through the heart of Cincinnati's order, getting two groundouts and striking out Rolen. The crowd in Philly is frantic.

He's thrown first-pitch strikes to 19 of 22 batters.

Top 6:
Rollins made a nice play on a grounder over the mound, and now this is starting to get interesting; Halladay's still not given up a hit.

Top 5:
Phils, 4-0
Jay Bruce worked a two-out walk to at least give the Reds a baserunner. Halladay looks incredible -- he's thrown maybe three pitches in a poor location and everything is darting in either direction. Drew Stubbs, by the way, has some quietly great offensive numbers this year.

Bottom 4:
Phils, 4-0
Travis Wood has done a great job settling this game down and earning himself a start if the Reds can somehow get past the Phils three aces and into the NLCS.

Top 4:
Phils, 4-0
Halladay struck out two using the full arsenal and is, ho-hum, perfect through 4.

Bottom 3:
Phils, 4-0
Travis Wood has a fantastic, sweeping cutter. Halladay's bores sharply, and Cliff Lee's is right in between the two. The cutter is definitely the pitch of 2010.

Bottom 2:
Phils, 4-0
Volquez has three electric pitches, but he couldn't command any of them. After getting two quick outs, Ruiz walked, Valdez chopped an infield single, the Doc ripped an RBI single, Rollins walked, and Victorino drove the stake through Volquez's outing with a single to center. Mercifully, Travis Wood got Utley to roll over the end it... but this is a major hole for the Reds to dig out of, and I'm not just talking about Game 1.

Top 2:
1-0, Phils:
Halladay is just all over the Reds' bat handles. Leaked a few pitches to Rolen, resulting in some hefty cuts, but Halladay put him away with a change that disappeared straight down. The Philly crowd loved it.

Bottom 1:
1-0, Phils
Victorino manufactured a run with a beautiful slap double on a changeup from Volquez. He stole third, then Utley's sac fly scored him.

Volquez is one of those ballplayers who smirks all the time, which is annoying.

Top 1:
0-0
Halladay picked exquisitely at the first base-side corner of the plate to Phillips, OCab, and Votto and got three easy outs. Not a pitch in the center of the plate.

In stark contrast to the earlier game, it's nice to see (and hear) a home crowd with a little life. This is the most intimidating crowd in the National League.

No comments:

Post a Comment